ROCHESTER, NY - The Utica University softball team was swept by the St. John Fisher Cardinals on the road on Saturday afternoon.
Fisher 10, Utica 7
Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) started game one with a bang, driving a ball down the left field line for a two-run home run that gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the 1st.
Fisher cut its deficit in half on an RBI double; however, Utica responded with two more in the top of the 2nd after
Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School) scored one on an error before Joss brought home
Abriana Wadley (Utica, NY/Proctor) on a single to left.
Starting pitcher
Kylie Murray (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester ) settled in after the 1st, retiring 11 batters in a row between the 2nd inning and two outs into the 5th before hitting a Fisher batter. No harm was done as she struck out the next batter to escape the inning.
After a quiet 6th inning by both teams, Utica gave Murray some more breathing room with a three-run 7th. Joss drove in two more runs on her second home run of the game, this time a blast to center, while
Abigail Sacks (Colonie, NY/Colonie) stepped in to make it back-to-back jacks for the Pioneers on a home run to left.
Down to their final three outs in a 7-1 hole, the Cardinals would not be silenced. A leadoff home run and a RBI single two batters later made it a 7-3 game with no outs. Fisher added one more on a groundout to first base right before a two-RBI single up the middle closed the gap to 7-6. While the next batter struck out, an error and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. Catcher Mari Spitz stepped in and connected for a two-out, walk-off grand slam to complete the comeback for the home team.
Murray pitched all 6.2 innings, allowing 10 runs, six earned, on eight hits with four strikeouts. Joss led the way at the plate going 3-for-4 with two home runs, a single and five RBI. Wadley and Sacks each had two hits as well with Sacks having the only other RBI on the team on her home run.
Fisher 11, Utica 3 (5 Inn.)
The Cardinals scored first in the bottom of the 1st inning on a single up the middle for a 1-0 lead after one.
Taylor Kraft (Loudonville, NY/Shaker ) evened the score in the top of the 2nd on a single to right field that scored
Kaitlyn Paul (Albany, NY/Guilderland) before Fisher reclaimed the lead in the bottom half on a double.
Fisher added two in the 3rd and 4th innings to lead 6-1 after four full. Kraft nailed her first-career home run in the top of the 6th inning on a shot to center before
Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School) doubled home
Abriana Wadley (Utica, NY/Proctor) to trail 6-3 entering the bottom of the 5th. Five runs by Fisher in the home half of the frame ended the game via run rule as the Pioneers fell 11-3.
Kraft finished a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with two RBI while Catlin, Paul, Wadley and
Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) had one hit each.
Utica (12-20, 4-6 Empire 8) will stay in Rochester, NY on Sunday for a doubleheader against Nazareth College. Game one is set to begin at 1 p.m.
